Blackberry Playbook prices slashed

THE PRICE of the Research in Motion (RIM) Playbook tablet has been slashed to as low as £250 by Currys owner DSG Group.

Currys, Dixons and PC World, all part of DSG Group, have cut the price of the Blackberry Playbook 16GB model tablet to £250, down £150 from their previous price of £399.

An initial check showed that Amazon is also selling the tablet at lower than its original price tag, at £269. Meanwhile, the Playbook is more expensive at Play.com and Carphone Warehouse, which are selling the tablet at £379 and £399, respectively.

In September, we reported that RIM had cut the price of its Playbook tablet in the US and Europe in an apparent copycat tactic to HP's recent discount on its Touchpad.

Best Buy in the US axed $150 off the price of the 64GB version of the Blackberry Playbook and cut $50 off the prices of the 16GB and 32GB models.

The Playbook has suffered from poor sales. The firm's Q2 results revealed that it shipped just 200,000 of the devices in its second quarter, down from 500,000 in the first quarter.

The problem for RIM is not just slow sales, but a lack of network support, particularly in the US, where it has failed to secure a major network deal. µ